Ethiopia: Forget ever having
a full stomack

 "I am very grateful but I wish someone would help me stand on my own feet", Mersha Tegab (36), receiving food aid says. The ongoing drought in Ethiopia has made millions of people in her country dependent on support. Mersha had to walk a distance of 105 km for three days to reach Debark. There and in Janamora districts (weredas) of North Gondor the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (EOC) distributes food donated by USAID. EOC is one of the members of the ACT alliance, who undertake relief operations in Ethiopia through the Joint Relief Partnership (JRP).

Mersha is a mother of six children and receives rations for five people. She has to till, together with her 15-year old son, the half-hectare of frozen land in Zawla Kurana. "But I have given up expecting good yield from the land. On best of the days, I thank God if I get 2 quintals". She, therefore, had to think of other means of income. In the "good old days," she said, "if the rain failed us, I was still able to do a brisk business by selling milk from some cows to my neighbors." That failed too, however. Three years ago, the grazing land in her neighborhood has dried up, slowly killing off her livestock.

Many people in this area have names that indicate their preoccupation with food – or rather the lack of it. Her father's name, Tegab, means in the Ethiopian language Amharic, "having a full stomach." And Mersha's name means, "to forget." She said her parents gave her the name because when she was born (she was the 7th child), they knew it was time to "forget having ever a full stomach." In the area she comes from, she says, children are no longer seen as "gifts of God." "How can they be," she said sadly, "when their parents have been dependent for many years on relief food?"

According to the Ethiopian government, 10.5 million of people are still at risk of starvation in the country. Of these, one third (3,569,820 people) are found in the Amhara region, in the northern part of the country. With a population of some 2.6 million people, the North Gondor Zone has 209,935 people needing immediate food assistance. One food distribution center is in Debark, an old town. It is one of the 8 districts out of the total 18 listed in the zone as needing emergency food aid. Nearby, Gondor rears its head, as if saying that the zone has not only been a land of tragedy but also of a glorious past immortalized by the 16^th century Castles of Emperor Fasil.

During the period of October/November, the EOC, carried out a distribution for 44,183 beneficiaries in Janamora and Debark districts of North Gondor at the Debark center. These beneficiaries received a food ration of 12.5kg of grain, 0.5kg of vegetable oil and 1.5kg of supplementary food. The beneficiaries from Janamora (36,174) have to travel three to four days to reach the center. It is one of the weredas hit hard by the belg (small rains) failure.

The Debark distribution center is also known for its cold weather, as it is nearby the highest mountain in the country, the Ras Dashen (4,500meters above sea level). It has to accommodate the 36,174 beneficiaries from Janamora district who used to be serviced at the Chenek wereda. Distribution in Chenek (with the high altitude of 3,900 meters above sea level) was halted last July due to bad road condition. According to Asmamaw Wondafrash, administration head of the Janamora wereda, the wereda has 30 peasant associations (PAs) or kebeles, out of which 15 have been assisted on a "continuing basis" since July. Three other kebeles received one month's ration in August, due to a freezing cold weather that killed 6 people already weakened by food shortage.

During the week when the distribution was carried out, Debark was filled to the brim with the over 40,000 beneficiaries needing relief assistance. However, reaching the distribution site does not mean the end of problems. After traveling for days, the beneficiaries have to think about how to travel back to their districts with the additional burden of the grain they have to carry. Donkeys can be rented for the highly unaffordable price of 20 birr (2.50 dollars) to carry the food to Janamora. Meanwhile, those beneficiaries who did not have the money had to make the trip twice.

Gebrehiwot Adane, EOC’s Relief Coordinator, said that the center's capacity to meet beneficiaries' needs is very limited. More particularly, warehousing problems and shortage of means of transportation are the problems that tie the hands of the EOC people at the center. Accordingly, they said that they have made an appeal for five rub halls. "If we get the rub halls, then the problem of waiting for food to come every month from the Primary Distribution Centers (PDPs) would be resolved," Gebrehiwot said. Meanwhile, shortage of vehicles has been another problem for EOC. For its relief office operation, it has only one old vehicle that does not even have the capacity to travel over the rubble road to visit its former distribution center in Chenek wereda.

The root cause of the food shortage in Janamora is of a fundamental and chronic nature. The land, which has been tilled continuously for thousand years by primitive styles of farming, has stopped giving food. Therefore, the community has become dedepndent on rations of food for many years. Is there a solution?

Although, they are very grateful for the assistance rendered, the Janamora administration head said that providing this alone could never be enough to address the root cause of the problem. The focus of the donors and the government should be on rehabilitation schemes that will help beneficiaries become self-dependent, he said. "Funding for non-grain items such as tools, seeds, safe water and livestock support should be considered as long-term intervention schemes", says Gebrehiwot Adane. Mersha Tegab also believes that with a little help towards rehabilitation, she would not be so poor. "With fodder for a cow, I could restart my dairy businesshouse..."